Big Brewskie is a resident expert on the land of inhuman air and at times people. The Banging Brew Man is a China watcher from way back and called some of what is happening here today. Below I will paste an entertaining as well as informative comment from him. But first Brew, whats your prediction, how long will this place last as is…a year ago my prediction was three to four, whats yours? King, I’d like to hear what u have to say as well.
From the King of Beers
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Tsk tsk. What’s a more fruitless expenditure of money – throwing bucks in Megabucks Jackpot, or dicing yourself in China’s Rail System to Hell Casino?
Easy answer: play the jackpot. You may just be turning your hard earned money into toilet paper, but you can always live another day to quash your hopes on the lottery; you won’t feel the same riding the grim reaper’s funeral cars to purgatory.
http://www.ecns.cn/in-depth/2011/08-22/1789.shtml
“However, a subway accident that happened some days ago made Xiao Chen realize that the trains he rides every day may suddenly become life-claiming mechanical devices. He recalled that there was a signal failure along Guangzhou’s subway Line 2 on the morning of August 15, causing delays and even temporary shutdowns. At that time, Xiao Chen happened to be in the tube, and he felt a little bit scared. He said, “Our train stopped in the tunnel for four or five minutes, and I thought of the high-speed train tragedy on July 23, 2011. There was a minor panic for a while.”
Similar accidents happened very frequently to subway lines across the country. Escalator malfunctions, circuit breakdowns, trains moving in the wrong direction, and door failures are among the most common problems.
On the morning of July 5 in Beijing, a rising escalator suddenly changed direction at the Beijing Zoo Station on subway Line 4, leaving a 13-year-old boy dead and 30 injured.
On the evening of July 25 in Shenzhen, a train on metro Line 4 made an emergency brake stop when running between the Exhibition Center Station and the Civic Center Station. An investigation showed that one door of the metro train opened by 10 centimeters for about one second, during which, the train’s security switch immediately functioned by closing the door and making an emergency brake for the train. The train’s service was affected for about one minute.
On the evening of July 28 in Shanghai, a train on subway Line 10 ran in the opposite direction because of a mix-up in communication during the upgrade and debugging of the train control signal.
On August 8 in Shenzhen, a train on metro Line 4 stopped service for over an hour because of its failure to start again.”
And although I put this up on recent post, I’m going to repost this again. What’s a rider’s advice for riding on the trains? Sit in the frickin’ middle carriage!
“… Take the middle carriage whenever you are on a metro line or a high-speed train … if the vehicle is overloaded, please send a message describing your position so as to make it easy for your relatives and friends to locate you. Make sure your cell phone has power before you step on any vehicle and be sure to pray for yourself.”